Mr Owens said he "applauded" Mr James for accepting he had made a mistake, adding it should not affect his life.

He told BBC Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement: "It takes a big man to say you're sorry and to do that and also to do that publicly as well sends out, I think, a strong message.

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Media captionNigel Owens says the ones really hurt by homophobic abuse are those who are worried about coming out

"I think the important message here is that people who are genuinely sorry for their actions, then we need to applaud them for that and accept what they did was wrong, it was a mistake.

"And then we can all move on and them and other people become better people for it."

The tweet was sent to the referee after he officiated England's 55-35 Six Nations victory over France at Twickenham.

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An apology was posted on Twitter by Edryd James

Mr Owens said the people who complained about it were the ones who "can make a difference".

"When we have one individual or a few people shouting something in a stadium of 70, 80, 90,000... when you have more people turning around telling them 'there's no place for that here' then it does send out a strong message.

"And I think the same goes for social media as well.

"Those are the people who deserve the credit and can make a difference."